Home is Where the Heart Is
by TheMoonclaw
Summary: In which Bryn learns that old proverb; home will always be the place for which you feel the deepest affection, no matter where you are. Post SoH, post Call You Home, etc. Moonclaw 'verse


**Randomness!**

 **I've been working on a lot of my on-going projects, (SoH, TES:Dremora, etc.) but nothing is ready to post yet, so I started this thinking it would be like 2k and easy to knock out. I've always wanted to write this scene up!**

 **...4.5k late, and 2 weeks later, here it is. Oops.**

 **Like I said, I've always wanted to write this up. It's been in my head for a long time. It's kind of a sweet little ditty.**

 **I suggest reading my other story 'Call You Home' from I think 2 years ago (time flies,) before reading this one. Call You Home takes place before this.**

 **This is random, out of order/context and...well...sorry. Haha**

* * *

Bryn woke to muffled, whispering voices that were like twittering birds.

"But, mom said not to wake him up,"

"Yeah, but they also said we can't eat until he was up, so…"

Even in his groggy state, he had to grin. The voices were easily recognizable as the precocious twins he considered siblings. They were too smart for their own good sometimes. It was scary.

They also had no idea how loud they really were.

"I can hear you," Bryn muttered, cracking one eye open.

Both kids grinned at him, as if they hadn't planned on waking him up.

"Good morning!" they chimed in perfect harmony.

It was downright creepy when they spoke in unison. Or finished each other's sentences. Or used words way too advanced for almost four year old's.

He decided they were just frightening children all the way around.

It was a good thing he loved them.

Aysel was the first to hop onto the bed, making the whole thing wobble. She grinned, dark hair wildly framing her face. "Happy birthday,"

Evren nodded, mirroring his sister's look. He waited about half a second before bounding onto the bed too.

Bryn winced, still sleepy and closed his eyes as the bed rocked from the movement.

He frowned at them, refusing to get up. "How did you know it was my birthday?"

"Mom,"

"Told us,"

They said, finishing each other's sentence.

Bryn's frown deepened. "Why did she do that?"

They both shrugged. Evren grinned again, "Dunno, but she said she's making something to eat, but we,"

"Don't get it if you aren't up." Aysel finished.

Bryn rolled his eyes, "Uh huh, so you woke me up?"

"You woke up by yourself," Evren countered, smirking.

Aysel nodded.

Bryn snorted and gave them both a gentle shove so they giggled and scrambled back to their feet. "Yeah right. Whatever. I'm up now. I guess we should see what's going on."

They both sprinted from the room, chittering about something or other and Bryn spared another eye roll.

He paused for just a moment, wondering if the twins were telling the truth. He had specifically told Cuore and Kieran he didn't need to celebrate his birthday, since he had never celebrated it before. He left off his private thoughts at the time that he didn't think his being born was anything too celebrate.

They would probably read too much into a comment like that and start worrying again.

He sighed. They worried too much about him.

After everything they had already done for him, he could hardly ask for anything more, or even let them do anything else. He already felt uncomfortable being in their lives.

And dare he say….part of their family?

Most days he felt like he was, or at least, he could pretend he was. The twins were certainly happy to have him, and he knew Cuore and Kieran were much kinder then he deserved.

Bryn closed his eyes. There was a part of him that felt…guilty for being so close to them. In some ways he was intruding on their lives, no matter how much he tried to stay out of the way and take up less space. They had two kids; they didn't need him.

And yet, here he was. After basically paying a year of his life to Mysidia as recompense for his ties to the Magicite, Cuore and Kieran still welcomed him back. He was confused, if not grateful.

With another sigh, Bryn pulled himself from his delightfully comfortable bedding and shook his head to banish such gloomy thoughts. He needed to figure out if Aysel and Evren were telling the truth, and also make sure it wasn't putting Cuore and Kieran out anything.

As he entered the common area he could hear Cuore scolding her children; "If I find out that you woke him up, you'll both be in big trouble."

"He woke up by himself!" Aysel insisted. Evren stood next to her nodded his head so hard his own dark hair flipped back and forth. Bryn grinned, catching the deadpanned and obviously disbelieving look Cuore was pinning them with.

They both winced.

She frowned, sighed, and then turned to go back to whatever she'd been doing when she spotted him.

Bryn offered her a small smile, still feeling awkward.

Cuore was unphased by all the antics and smiled at him. "Good morning. I'm sorry the twins woke you up,"

"We didn't!" they both chorused.

She rolled her eyes and continued. "I wanted to let you sleep in."

Bryn shrugged, "It's okay." He hesitated. "They mentioned my birthday,"

Cuore glanced back at him with her unnerving look she got sometimes, like she was gauging his mood without saying anything. He swore she knew things about people that they didn't even known themselves.

"I know you weren't keen on celebrating," she explained, offering another smile. "but we wanted to all the same."

Bryn frowned and dropped his gaze to the floor, wondering if he should tell her just how much he didn't want to celebrate.

His birthday was marred with nothing but bad memories and reminders of things he'd rather pretend didn't happen.

"In fact, I need to finish cooking," she finished, returning to her task of grabbing things from around the kitchen.

Bryn shuffled his feet awkwardly. "You…didn't have to do anything,"

"I already told you we wanted too," Cuore replied, glancing over her shoulder. "Birthdays are important, special. Regardless of if you've never celebrated before or not."

He swallowed, debating telling her it wasn't worth rejoicing.

"I know maybe you don't feel like it's significant, but we wanted to do something for you to tell you it is special to us." Cuore finished.

Bryn glanced up, and she smiled again, this time a hint of sadness in her features.

He dropped his eyes again. So she knew. Or, at least had some idea of how he was feeling.

"…Thanks," he mumbled, more out of habit then anything else.

"Would it make you feel better if I told you I was making those terribly insalubrious chocolate chip pancakes all of you like for some unfathomable reason?"

He had to grin at that and nodded, "Yes, slightly. I see why the twins were so excited to wake me up."

Cuore chuckled and began to stir the batter for said pancakes. The twins had moved away a bit and were busy playing and possibly arguing with each other. Sometimes it was hard to tell.

Bryn hesitated before wandering slowly over to the nearby table and sitting down. From his vantage point he could see most of the living space.

"Kieran should be here any minute," Cuore commented after a few moments.

Bryn frowned, the side of his face resting in her hand. "I thought he was in Mysidia helping them with that new sensor on the airships,"

"He was," Cuore confirmed, tasting the batter and making a face before going back to stirring. "He was going to come back for today though."

He winced, feeling guilty. "He didn't have to do that,"

"Well, he'd be done already with the retrofitting if I was there, but…whatever." Cuore complained, sounding a little haughty.

She tried the batter again and wrinkled her nose. "I can't tell if this is good or not. With the whole texture and mismatched flavors being so…strange, I'm just not sure."

She held the bowl out, "Would you come try it?"

Bryn hopped up, excited to be helping and also musing that Cuore was so weird.

He did as she asked and frowned thoughtfully, "Hmmm…it needs more chocolate chips."

Cuore looked unconvinced and dropped half a handful into the mixture. Bryn was half tempted to tell her it needed _more_ then that, but he wasn't about to cause a fuss.

There was a series of clicks and noise from the other end of their living quarters and both of the little ones hopped up exclaiming loudly, and in perfect unison; "Dad's home!"

Bryn watched in amusement as they both scrambled to their feet and bolted for the doorway.

Cuore just shook her head and continued to bang around with pots and pans.

Bryn went back to sit in his previous spot at the table, and watched the family curiously. Sometimes he felt strange being so curious about how they interacted. But it intrigued him, if not also made him envious.

Afterall, he had never been so excited to see his father return, for any reason.

Still, despite his jealously over the obvious love his host family had for each other, he was immensely glad Aysel and Evren would never have to fear their parents the way he feared his father.

Even with Zethan dead, he was still afraid.

Kieran hadn't even made it through the doorway before the twins latched on.

"Did you crash the airship?" Evren asked, sounding excited at the idea.

"Evren, you ask me that every time I get back," Kieran commented, sounding exasperated. "I don't know why you think that's going to happen, but no, I didn't crash the airship."

Evren sighed, sounding mildly disappointed.

Aysel grinned, "'Cause Kain said you crash those a lot,"

Cuore looked over, making a face, but she didn't get a chance to say anything because Kieran was already countering that comment.

"Well, Kain's old and full of chocobo feathers, so don't listen to anything he says,"

The twins giggled.

Cuore muttered something about having "words" with Kain next time she saw him, and Bryn grinned, hoping he would be around to hear that exchange.

"Oh, hey, I brought you guys something," Kieran said, gently prying them away from him. He handed them some random looking piece of metal.

"Whoa!" they both exclaimed.

"What's it?" Aysel asked, snatching it from his hands. Evren leaned over her shoulder to get a look.

"Nope, it's a guessing game. You tell me what it is." Kieran replied.

This was not a new 'game' they often did. The twins were constantly getting into things they shouldn't, so often Kieran would give them random things and make them figure out what it was.

Bryn didn't understand their fascination with random bits of metal, wire, gears and lights, but it seemed to keep them occupied and out of trouble.

At least for a little while.

Once the twins released their father enough so he could actually walk, Cuore mentioned pointedly; "Did you finish retrofitting those ships yet?"

Kieran frowned at her, "You know the answer to that is no,"

"Hmm…." she replied, looking smug.

"Did you finish those pancakes yet?" Kieran retorted.

Cuore waved a hand at the kitchen and then flicked a wrist at him, obviously saying without words that she was working on it.

Kieran glanced over the counter at the batter, made a face and waited for Cuore to look away before reaching over the counter and snagging the entire bade of chocolate.

And dumped the whole thing into the mix.

By the time Cuore turned back, Kieran had stepped away from her space and plastered an innocent look on his face.

She seemed puzzled for a moment by the change to her carefully crafted concoction, and narrowed her eyes at him.

He just stared back.

Cuore sighed, but said nothing and just stirred the newly added chips further into the batter.

Bryn stifled a chuckle, and gave Kieran a thumbs up.

Cuore seemed to miss the point of chocolate pancakes was the chocolate chip part.

"Happy birthday, by the way." Kieran said, nodding to Bryn. "Sorry it took me so long to get here."

Cuore looked over, concern on her face, "They weren't being…difficult about…well,"

"No, it just took longer then I thought to get everything…in order." Kieran answered carefully.

Bryn made a face at the odd exchange.

Rather then comment on it, he instead just spoke up quietly about his birthday. "You really didn't have to come all the way back. It's…just my birthday."

"I wanted too," Kieran replied, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Bryn clasped his hands together on top of the table. "But you didn't _have_ too. I didn't even want to celebrate, and you were busy doing something important. I…don't want to be…in the way."

He wasn't looking at Kieran, but he could somehow sense the frown he was wearing.

"Bryn," the man sighed. He sounded equal parts disappointed and exasperated. "You aren't a bother,"

The boy peeked up and Kieran offered him a small smile, "I _wanted_ to be home for this, for you."

Cuore leaned on the counter so she could be closer. "We know you didn't want to celebrate, but…well, maybe it sounds selfish, but _we_ wanted to celebrate."

Kieran nodded in agreement as the teal haired woman continued. Her tone was gentle and patient, but it only made Bryn squirm more.

They were just too _nice_.

"We love you Bryn, and I know you didn't want to make a fuss about today, but we wanted to at least spend the day with you." Cuore explained. "Things are different now, you don't have to worry now. You…"

She glanced at Kieran, looking unsure and he sighed again before pushing off the wall and pulling a scroll from his sleeve.

"We were going to wait until later today to talk to you about this, but…"

Confused and suspicious, Bryn hopped up and took the paper he was offered, not sure if he wanted to read it or not.

With the sound of crinkling paper, and a mild feeling of dread, he unrolled the document and froze.

The parchment was scrolled with Mysidia's official font, detailing in an overly wordy fashion the availability for adoption.

Bryn stared at the papers in his hands.

He was filled with so many emotions and feelings he wasn't sure what to even think. He didn't bother to stop his hands from trembling, making the paper shake.

"You don't have to decide right now," Kieran said hurriedly. "And…you don't have to feel bad if you say no. It's okay."

Cuore nodded, "Whatever you decide, Bryn, you'll always have a place here. There's no wrong answer. Your thirteen, your old enough to decided what you want to do. It's your choice."

His choice?

That was something he didn't get to hear very often.

Bryn swallowed thickly, still staring at the bold letters inked on the top of the page.

Adoption.

He took a careful deep breath, glad that his voice didn't shake. "I…I would have your last name?"

Kieran seemed slightly perplexed by the question but nodded all the same; "If you wanted, then yes. You could keep-"

Bryn looked up, horrified. "No!"

He winced at his own outburst and then shook his head, "No, no, I…" Bryn closed his eyes, recollecting his thoughts.

This wasn't something he'd even dreamt of, let alone considered or spent any time thinking about.

What was he supposed to say?

Were they insane?

He was a criminal, damaged, trouble.

They had kids already!

"You…are…you sure?" he said quietly, glancing up. "I-I…"

Cuore knelt down, putting her lower then eye level with him, and gently took his forearms since his hands were occupied with the paperwork.

"Bryn," she murmured, holding his gaze intensely. "Of course we're sure. You are, and always will be, part of our family. This…this is just a piece of paper. Just something to tell us what we already know. But if you don't want to be this close to us, or if this is too much, too soon, then you just tell us. We won't be mad."

Bryn looked up when Kieran set a hand on his shoulder. "Cuore's right. Your already part of the family. And, I know that…you've never had a good example of what that can be like, but…Zethan is dead. Your finally free. Free to make a choice, and no matter what that choice is, we'll always love you."

"I know we aren't your real parents, but…" Cuore smiled. "Maybe we can be some sort of family member to you."

Bryn couldn't help the tears that gathered in his eyes, with a few splashing onto the scroll he was still holding.

"Your sure?" he asked again, voice shaky.

"Yes!" they both exclaimed.

He tossed his arms around Cuore, burying his face into her neck and stopped trying to hide the fact he was crying. Cuore squeezed him back.

Bryn had never known his mother, he didn't even know her name. But whoever she was, he didn't think he'd ever be able to compare her with Cuore.

Cuore had risked everything to protect him, to trust him. She had no reason to actually love him and yet she did.

He pulled away and glanced up at Kieran, wiping off one eye before speaking. "I want your last name. And not just because I don't want Zethan's."

He couldn't bring himself to tell the man that he had been more of a father in a day of knowing him then Zethan had been his entire life. He couldn't choke out the words to say that he didn't understand how Kieran hadn't killed yet with his attitude, delinquent behavior and dark past.

But the few words he had said seemed to convey enough of the sentiment based on Kieran's face.

Bryn hid the teary smile he was wearing when Kieran hugged him. Why the man loved him, he wasn't sure he was ever going to understand, but it felt good to know he didn't have to question it.

He didn't have to _wonder_ if he was loved. He simply knew.

"Here, give me that. I'll sign it." Kieran said, holding out his hand.

Bryn passed the scroll over, feeling unexpectedly giddy at the prospect. He watched as it was signed, and felt a sense of relief over a stress he didn't know he was carrying.

Cuore give his arm a squeeze with a smile, and he smiled back.

He never would have guessed that this is where he would be when Cuore cornered him in Bab-Il's core room, weapons drawn, all those years ago.

He supposed it would make a funny story later in life.

But there was still a nagging worry clawing in the back of his head and he clasped his hands together.

"But, the twins…" he muttered, mostly to himself.

They popped up out of nowhere.

"What about," Evren began.

"Us?" Aysel finished, cocking her head to the side.

Bryn hesitated, not sure how to explain to them the situation. They were brilliant, but they were still children.

"We're adopting Bryn." Cuore explained. "That means he'll be part of the family."

"Oh," the echoed.

Aysel blinked. "I thought he was part of the family already?"

"Yeah!" Evren chorused.

"Legally." Cuore added.

"Oh," they both said again.

There was a pause.

Evren made a face. "What's that mean?"

Cuore sighed, and as often was the case with conversations like this, glanced at Kieran.

He shrugged. "It means we have a fancy piece of paper now that says it."

"Okay." they both said, as if that made a lot of sense.

Bryn stifled a chuckle and wiped off his face. Now that the moment had passed, he felt embarrassed for crying at all.

But he supposed that was foolish, nothing but a remnant from his past. Never show weakness, never seem incompetent, never _feel_.

"Are you two okay with me staying here?" he asked the twins in all seriousness.

They both nodded.

"Yeah!" Evren said. "Who else is going to help us when we can't reach stuff high up?"

Aysel nodded, "Or when we're not supposed to do something and you tell mom and dad that it wasn't us."

Cuore frowned, and Bryn laughed nervously. "I…have no idea what they are talking about."

Kieran snickered and pat Cuore's shoulder, as if telling her to let it go. She sighed, but said nothing and stood up.

Bryn was about to say something when the twins pulled him downwards into a bone crashing double-hug.

"Happy birthday," they both said, giggling.

He smiled and hugged them back. "Thanks, you two. Are you sure you're okay with me?"

"Sure," Evren said, shrugging. "Your,

"Our brother." Aysel finished, beaming up at him. "Now when people say you aren't, we have,"

"A fancy piece of paper that says you are!" Evren said.

Bryn blinked back another set of tears.

He pulled them into another hug.

After a moment, he released them and sat down at the table again, somewhat exhausted. He was feeling terribly emotional.

The twins hopped up into chairs next to him.

"Alright, we're behind schedule. I need to finish those unhealthy pancakes." Cuore proclaimed, striding to the kitchen with purpose.

Kieran groaned, "Not everything has to be on a strict schedule, Cuore. Sometimes you have to be spontaneous."

"Which is why you have yet to finish the retrofitting on the airships," she countered.

Kieran frowned. "Fair enough…"

He paused, mid-action of re-rolling the now signed adoption document. "Wait, you keep bringing that up. Did you really want to go with me to do that? Mysidia drives you crazy."

Cuore seemed unnerved by the question and Bryn raised an eyebrow as she busied herself with pans to avoid answering.

"Cuore…"

She wheeled around to give her husband an annoyed look. "No, I _didn't_ want to go to Mysidia, but I wanted to spend time with _you_."

She huffed and went back to work.

Kieran smiled slowly. "Wow, that was uncharacteristically sweet of you."

Cuore rolled her eyes and began pouring the carefully mixed batter. "You make it sound like I never say anything nice to you."

"You say plenty of nice things. But nice and sweet aren't the same thing," he replied. "Nice means pleasant, agreeable, satisfactory. Sweet means delightful, highly satisfying, infatuated."

"Stop quoting dictionary definitions at me!" Cuore complained, focusing on her cooking tasks.

Kieran leaned against one of the counters in front of her, forcing her to pay attention to him if she wanted to keep cooking. "Ah, but you used to _love it_ when I gave definitions of words to you,"

She glared at him, but there was a playful smirk on her lips. "You, hush. Your being very obnoxious. Obnoxious, disagreeable, nasty,"

Kieran chuckled and smacked her shoulder with the rolled-up paper. "Alright, how about a truce. You come with me to Mydisia to drop off this adoption letter. Deal?"

"What about the kids?"

"You parents are always saying they don't see them enough. We'll just leave them there and fly off." he replied.

Bryn chuckled, finding the conversation highly amusing. It wasn't like they would cruelly ditch them somewhere anyway.

"I don't know…" Cuore said, looking uneasy.

Kieran waved away her concerns nonchalantly, "They love visiting your parents. They get candy and bad influences and all of that."

"We do!" both twins said, looking up from staring at the weird metal bit they were given earlier.

"Come on…" Kieran taunted, poking at the pancake Cuore was trying to make the perfect round shape. As usual. She smacked his hand away.

"Alright, fine. We'll plan this later." she conceded.

Her voice was flat, but her face was amused. Bryn rolled his eyes. People always said he'd understand flirting when he got older, but he just couldn't imagine that ever being true.

"Oh!" Kieran suddenly said, turning back to him. "Bryn, I almost forgot. Hold out your hands."

Confused, Bryn made a face but did what he was asked.

Kieran wandered over and held up something Bryn couldn't make out before waving it over the anti-magic manacles Bryn had worn for the past six years.

There was a fizzle, pop, and then the manacles split open, clattering to the table.

Bryn's eyes widened. "Wait…"

"We've been trying to get Mysidia to agree to that for years," Kieran remarked.

Cuore looked over her shoulder, "Yes, it takes them awhile to do anything over there, but they couldn't deny the request any longer if they were also going to let the adoption pass."

Bryn grinned and looked up, "I…haven't cast a spell in…well,"

"How does it feel?" Kieran asked, nodding to his free wrists.

Bryn's smile widened, "Amazing."

He'd never really noticed the magic humming in his veins, but now, getting it back after so many years of a void, he wasn't sure how he'd ever survived.

Not only did he feel whole again, but the constant weight of the fetters was gone. He actually felt physically free, not just mentally free.

"I wanna see magic!" Aysel asked, eyes lit up with wonder.

Evren nodded and tugged on Bryn's arm, "Yes!"

He glanced at the adults and they both offered shrugs and nods so he took a deep breath and held out his hand.

He had learned to speak spells before he'd learned how to write, and even after all this time the words so effortlessly fell from his tongue.

"Fie'Er," he whispered.

A plume of amber fire came to life on his palm and he grinned, giving it a toss before tossing it to his other hand, as if he were playing with a ball of fire.

"Now you're just showing off," Kieran remarked in amusement.

Bryn grinned and flicked his hand to dispel the magic.

"Wow!" the twins chorused.

"Yeah, maybe when we aren't indoors I can…" he paused and glanced at the adults again. "What restrictions are on this?"

"Don't burn anything down," Cuore said, "or hurt anyone."

Bryn blinked. "That's it? Mysidia didn't limit me to like…I don't know, first level spells or something?"

He was shocked. They _loved_ to control things.

Kieran got that look on his face he always did when he was bending the rules. "We don't live in Mysidia."

Bryn chuckled, turning back to the twins. "Then yes, when we aren't indoors I'll show you more, okay?"

"Okay!"

As Cuore placed a plate containing not only one chocolate chip pancake but also bacon in front of him, Bryn smiled and exhaled a breath he didn't know he'd been holding for the better part of his life.

It felt nice to relax.

He had a family. A home.

Maybe birthdays weren't so terrible after all.

* * *

 **Awwwwww.**

 **Sorry this is so out of place, but I really enjoyed working on it and I hope you all enjoyed reading it.**

 **Bryn is an interesting character for me. He's not like other "tortured past" characters I've written, in that he was so small being made into a sort of weapon, but not in the sense of like a sci-fi, end of world type of thing. The Magicite and Zethan really did think they were doing the right thing, after all.**

 **Bryn's use of the Lunarian version of the word "fire" (Fie'Er) is due to how insanely detailed the Magicite were with his magic training. They, being so heavily into magic, learned the proper Lunarian phrasing for words. There's more Lunarian present in my Shards of History story.**

 **Aysel and Evren (Aysel means Moon flood/stream in Turkish and Evren means Universe/cosmos in Turkish and I think might be the name of a mythic dragon-like creature in Turkish lore,) They were twins, obviously. And Cuore wasn't sure she could have kids because Maenad, haha. They have no magic, and only have telepathy with each other. Which is why they really do finish each other's sentences and speak at the same time and just stare a lot.**

 **I think that's about it...I do hope everyone enjoys this shameless family moment brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Bellz The Moonclaw.**

 **In other news; I'm really excited to say I've joined the Beyond Skyrim Mod team for Roscrea as a dialogue writer! I'm just getting into now, but it's a great chance to try a different sort of writing, and I love Elder Scrolls, so I couldn't resist. They have some development streams and such up on YouTube if anyone is curious.**

 **Thanks for reading! See you next time in some of my longer stories :)**


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